


Geno: A Rising Star

by Pokefan993



Series: SMASH HOUSE [1]
Category: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based On My RP Server, Developing Friendships, Friendship, Gen, Geno POV, Geno’s A Dork, Kinda?, Lore - Freeform, Lots Of Adjusting, Lots Of Crossover Antics, Showbiz-ish, Slice of Life, Social Anxiety, Swearing, Worldbuilding, big house
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-14 11:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18051668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokefan993/pseuds/Pokefan993
Summary: After twenty whole years of applying, Geno, (or ♡♪!? if you prefer), has finally made it into the SMASH House, a nirvana of video game characters that are the most iconic in the industry, and are frequently called in for more and more game-making while living a lavish lifestyle. Geno hasn’t interacted with another person since his first and only game came out, so being in a gigantic house with over 70 people, let alone celebrities, is going to be an adjustment.





	1. Preface

     In this world, video games are not fully fiction. They are based off of the lives of characters from several separate multiverses- all of which are scoured by traveling executives to base new and engaging products off of, while pulling some loose threads here and there to make a more interesting story for the audience.  
     However, some time down the line, Nintendo decided that their top characters deserved some special treatment to keep them coming back and hired for more and more games.  
**The SMASH Initiative** _(the Superlative Mascots Arrangement of Shelter and Hospitality)_ was founded in 1999 by Nintendo so they can further manage and treat their mascots luxuriously, while also fully benefiting themselves. They were brought into what’s dubbed the “SMASH House”, full of extravagance, appreciation, community, as well as a weekly generous allowance directly from sales of their games. It is essentially a company gifted apartment so discussing game creation isn’t a hard, arduous process that requires multiverse transport, as Nintendo headquarters has been relocated to a world not unlike a melting pot like NYC or a star struck town like Hollywood, but instead riddled with visiting video game characters, fittingly named **Smashville**.  
    8 iconic gaming mascots were brought to the initial deal, with 4 more signing in as a “second wave.” This dozen characters became the face of gaming itself- it was a “nirvana” for characters that have achieved great things and strived adversary to reach their position. As years went by, that number quintupled, and a solid 70+ characters now reside there.  
    While also functioning as a suite for the characters, SMASH’s legacy characters are also used in a game title of a similar name, where fans of the game unknowingly choose and request worthy characters to be part of not just Nintendo legacy, but gaming legacy as a whole.


	2. Geno Joins the Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geno gets ready for his twentieth application, but it feels... fishy.

Squeaky joints and wooded clacks on the floor awaken the semi-modest apartment as the young star spirit awakens from his weekly slumber. He shuffles nervously to his dressing room, overwhelmed by the selection of new cloaks his mother had gotten him, only to grab one of his old, tattered, but iconic blue and yellow ones. Today was a day to be recognized, unfortunately.

S.M.A.S.H. was formed a few years after Geno’s only gig as a sidekick to Mario. It was very, very fun- but that gig was over twenty years ago. Sure, that’s not a long time for a star spirit, but the gaming industry has been around for less than half a century, and besides, he was only just now reaching his three-hundreds. As with every character hopeful, wistful for SMASH-hood, with time, over each and every application process since circa 1999, he was rejected.

Rejected, denied, no-how. But that was to be expected, especially with him.

His binding contracts were constricting. Square Enix was a rather ruthless company with its image and business, and he was part of the first Square crossover with Nintendo, and not long after game release, the companies had a falling out, denying a chance for a true sequel when the time was right. He figured he’d be done by then, he’d just live on the outskirts of Smashville and mooch off his mom. Not that he wanted that.

However, he wasn’t just doing this because of mere hope. He had a _chance._

Geno didn’t expect nor did he believe his massive cult following. He was only part of a single game, just one, on the last legs of the SNES, and he’s still been pushed by diehard fans to the spotlight. He was befuddled.

Today was the day of his final interview. He’d made it this far a few years ago, but didn’t quite fully make it in the end, despite his first semi-appearance in years as a costume. This time, however, it’ll be different. He’s done his research, gone through the websites, read the books, and bio’d his interviewer. He even reached out to old development team members for insight on how his game was made. The people’s choice was going to matter way more than usual this time around, and by God he’s not going to whiff it at such an opportune time.

Stress was starting to flood Geno as he got closer and closer to the building. He was walking, as he usually did, as star spirits have much more stamina than other beings, but the slow approach had filled him to the brim with anxiety. What if he lost control of his body right then and there like that one time in 2010? What about the time he forgot to oil his joints a couple years earlier? And the first time he ever interviewed for the position he had called Luigi “Green Mario” completely cluelessly. His oak parts rattled at the thought of messing up at a time like this.

He arrived an hour early and saw the grand expanse of the SMASH property. Several recreational buildings, a large parking lot full of eccentric vehicles, a _cruise ship_ , which must be new, and, of course, the massive SMASH House. It was a perfect hybrid of the appeal of a skyscraper and the functionality of a mansion.

 _Still not as valuable as my holographic Charizard,_ he thought to himself. He laughed silently and awkwardly at his own joke.

The rec rooms were small buildings labeled with Nintendo executives and a letter, with the ones labeled “Iwata” sealed off out of respect. Geno was told to meet at “Sakurai-B”. He was ahead of his interviewer’s arrival by 45 minutes, so he took the time to mentally prepare himself for the interview.

He would be interviewing with Samus Aran. #4. He always found it strange Samus technically counted as two fighters, but now was not the time to ask that. He was about to be interviewed by a Wave One. She did know his mom well, which was a plus, but also a very notable negative. Geno shook in his boots. _I’ve been shaking a lot, are my joints functioning right?_ He thought to himself, refusing to believe he’s shaken up over this. Despite the fact this was his twentieth attempt at getting in, he was still as nervous as ever, as if it was 1999 all over again.

After a solid 30 minutes of recollection and reciting answers to even the smallest of questions, he saw Samus wearing a suit and tie, walking in heels, walking to the building. _Shoot, was he supposed to dress up?!_ He’d been wearing his cloak every meeting and he never considered it a factor! Oh, hell-

“Hey, Gene, I’m early. Come in,” Samus opened the door to the building, revealing an incredibly minimalist, black and white interior. He respectfully scraped his worn but shiny boots on the doormat and tightened his cap before walking inside. A fire that seemingly emits blacklight welcomed Geno to the familiar building.

Geno’s mind went through this like a level in a game he’s played over and over, making sure to do even the little things right. He shook her hand carefully, avoiding strange hand angles so there wouldn’t be any possibility for splinters (he’d learned that the hard way), he made sure his ribbons were in perfect curls, made sure he’d made just enough steps to the comfortable, black leather couch (not too many, nor too few), and, of course, use a proper greeting.

He sunk into the couch as Samus looks through a list of questions, and from the back of the paper he can see it’s much fewer than it usually is. Samus seems incredibly nonplussed about the interview, as well. _Something feels fishy,_ he thought. Most interviews took several questions, front and back of the paper, but he could only count four. He was thoroughly confused. This wasn’t part of the plan. He hasn’t recited this. He had no idea what to do, what should he say, what-

Samus sighs and smiles at the clearly nervous wooden puppet and reaffirms him. “Gene, buddy, you have to relax. Please. This is for me and you,” Geno took a deep breath as Samus continued, “I’ve been talking with Rosalina and I’m going to make sure his interview is as stress free as possible. It’s a bit against protocol, but I know you get overwhelmed easily.” Samus finishes and pats Geno on the shoulder, jolting him into a semi-readiness. He felt conflicted on his mother’s interference with how Samus was going to conduct the interview, but shook it off and decided to cite his thanks.

“...Thank you, Ms. Aran…” Geno clenched through possible sobs.

The interview only had three questions: Who are you, why you, and how are you. Samus clearly had a stack of reports from other interviews on the table where she was taking notes from, filling in blanks she couldn’t fill out, as Geno went through the entirety of his introduction, minus 5-8 pages. He also handed Samus his essay in physical format, and it caused the bounty hunter to arc her back at the unexpected weight in her hands. This felt like cheating, it really did. He felt anxious about it- but was it cheating? Geno was reflexively removing and replacing his fingertips as the interview seemed to conclude.

 _This feels wrong,_ he thought anxiously. _Is this just a glorified prank? ‘Happy 20th attempt, loser!!’ or something?_

Samus started laughing. Geno started to fume a bit, already about to start getting angry before Samus handed him a small, plastic card with a notable circle-cross symbol at the top left with a promotional photo shoot image of him from ‘96.

He read carefully at what it said before almost losing control of his physical form.

He’s in.

_I’m in…?_

Samus smiles and tells it straight. “Square and Nintendo already agreed you would be added. We just waited for you to get here, but Rosa thought it would be cute if we had you do a twentieth interview with me instead of just handing you your I.D.”

Geno fidgets as he slowly and shakily hugs Samus- though considering his height, he’s more or less just resting his head on her stomach while wrapping his arms around her knees. He doesn’t say anything, the squeaks of his joints and his voice say everything.

“I’ll see you Friday, Gene. Make sure you’re packed and ready to move in by then,” Samus said, comfortably.

Geno walked outside, and contacted Rosa with his phone, typing a heartfelt “I love you,” which took longer than it should have, considering it was only three words, but god were his hands shaky.

He ran off to his apartment, making sure he held on to his SMASH ID the whole time, glancing at that beautiful number next to his name.

And with that, Geno threw himself onto his bed, anxieties leaving him like a cured status effect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt so proud after writing this chapter, I never planned to make this a whole damn story, but this one chapter encouraged me. Geno’s such a sweetheart dork and I love writing him, he only wants to do his best, poor baby.
> 
> This is the first story I’ve ever written for fun, so I hope you enjoy the rest!


	3. Awkward Beginnings and Heartfelt Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geno’s got to introduce himself, but he doesn’t have nearly as much of a legacy as everyone else. What’s a star spirit to do?!

    Geno took about a few hours to clear his apartment of anything he owned. He didn’t really own much, really, he really only had his cloaks, his card collection, his sketchbooks, and of course himself, more or less. So, naturally, he held off to pack until Friday morning, not because he’s a procrastinator, anything but- rather, packing right before felt more like a proper goodbye than just sitting around a bare apartment for a good 3 days.  
  
    Geno didn’t have much of a social life. He did have a few recollections of people from primary school, though. He remembered a younger person with very stand-out wings that didn’t actually work, he was pretty nice, he could consider him a friend, along with this really annoying cat kid that would crack puns a lot, but didn’t really have a “paws button”. _Paws, hee hee_. He’ll keep that one to himself.

    Living in the SMASH house would the the first time Geno would have to interact with people face-to-face regularly, besides his mom, since ‘96. Geno blushed, _(yes, he blushed- he’s been stuck to the same body for several years, it’s going to be more flexible to emotion)_ he wasn’t quite happy with that fact, but he couldn’t help it. He only did the bare minimum unless he absolutely had to do more than necessary. Geno got tense around social situations, every year, his interviews would be the longest social interactions he’d have to deal with per year, and now they’re just _gone_ now. In place is his new home, as a resident in a luxurious house full of what were essentially celebrities.

    This is going to be _quite_ the adjustment for Geno.

    Geno’s mother let him know that the majority of the SMASH House members would be waiting in the parlor. She herself would be there in time for dinner, or in other words about 3-4 hours, as she was fixing up the old Comet Observatory for possible SMASH-House-exclusive space tourism. God, he hoped his old room would be off-limits. He had no semblance of originality in his late hundreds, and he did not want to see “Maryo” again for as long as he lived.

    His nervous twitch was acting up- he’d been removing and replacing his index fingertip, standing right outside the large, emblazoned door, anxious to scan his new ID. Is this still a trick? His mom wouldn’t trick him. Oh, man, oh, man…

 _Frick it,_ Geno thought, _The more I stand out here the more dumb I’ll look to the surveillance team._ He scanned his ID, resulting in a cute chiptune jingle of Lifelight, and the door unlocked, allowing Geno to twist the knob.

    The air felt foreign. Lavish. It felt odd thinking that, but he’d mostly lived deep in the industrial part of Smashville, so he wasn’t used to very clean air. The entrance lobby felt sleek, as if he was walking into a club or a really, really good party like the ones you’d see on TV. The walls were black and the carpet was an astonishing white, spotless. Geno had even forgotten to wipe his boots but, alas, no footprints. This place felt magical, and he was only looking at the carpet.

    In front of him was a large window taking place of the wall reverse the doors, but instead of being fully see-through, it took all objects and people and replaced it with their silhouettes. He could distinctly see his old co-worker, Bowser, scratching his head at who could possibly be on the other side, (semi-confirming the silhouette window wasn’t just one-way,) someone he immediately recognized as Kirby, and a few younger people that could average to about his age in human years. Everyone else seemed grouped together too tight to be considered visible. He put his best foot forward and turned the doorknob of the smaller door leading into the parlor, to resounding silence.

    The silence was so thick cutting it with a steak knife would be difficult. Here goes.  
  
    Geno cleared his throat.   
  
    “Hello, erm, my name is ♡♪!?, but you all may call me Geno. I am a notable character in the one-off Super Mario RPG on the SNES…” at this moment, several people turned their head to Mario and co., “...but other than that, I’ve had no other appearances in a game. I was considered due to popular vote and as a cornerstone of the RPG set of Mario games.”

    The silence worries Geno, so he decides to tell them what exactly he is.  
  
    “I am a star spirit, you may know my kind from my mother, Rosalina, a star spirit that has taken possession of a wooden doll, and I can make it do cool stuff like this-” Geno’s arm flips open to reveal a small pistol, which he aims upwards. Some flinch at the sight of the gun, but after reverting it, he reaffirms, “Don’t worry, the safety’s on.”   
  
    Geno chuckles and is treated to courteous applause. Geno walks through the crowd, blushing furiously, until he bumps into Samus.

    “Oh, hi, Ms. Aran…” Geno appears very embarrassed, the poor lad’s face is fixed to the ground.

    Samus tips his head up. “Hey big guy. Sorry about the awkwardness back there. You’re a vintage character! Trust me, Pit and Mr. Game and Watch and every single one of the Fire Emblem characters had to go through a similar rut.” Geno looked up, reluctantly. “I can show you around the house, if you want. I’m not busy.”  
  
    Geno nods nervously and gives an unsure okay.

    Samus begins by pointing out the obvious. “This is the parlor, or grand room. It’s the most common center for meet and greet among your fellow SMASHers. Most major events tend to happen here, along with holiday celebrations and the sort. I recommend mingling after our tour, if you’re up to it.” Geno is absolutely sure he is not up to it, but nods to appease Samus.

    Samus takes him to the kitchen, encountering a busy Luigi. “Ciao, Samus!” Luigi tiredly greets the bounty hunter, “Is this-ah the newbie?”

    Oh man oh wow that food smells amazing. He smells pizza… bread… cheese… buffalo wings… Rosa gave him a sense of taste and smell just a few decades ago and Geno was still getting used to it, but it has thoroughly improved life since then.  
  
    Samus replies to Luigi, “Yep, this is Geno. Rosa’s kid. You recognize him?”

    Luigi nods. “You were a great kid! Mario loved-ah ya! Eet’s a bit odd ya didn’t get much-ah reaction from at least my brother, he probably doesn’t have as stellar of a memory as-ah me.” Luigi loads another pizza in the oven, taking another out. “It’s very nice seeing you! You look very iconic, I can see why-ah the big man pushed-ah so hard to get you in.”

    Geno knew the Mario brothers were Italian, but he forgot how borderline stereotypical they were. Their accents almost felt fake- he wasn’t offended by their existence, but it’s a bit silly that when other people do the Mario voice, it’s not far off from reality.

    “Uh… nice to meet you, Luigi. Sorry for uh… 1999,” Geno adds, sheepishly.

    Luigi giggles. “It’s-ah no issue now. I’ve been characterized much differently from-eh my brother nowadays, so it’s-ah very rare someone confuses me for Mario. When I got-ah here in 1999, people thought I was a clone of my brother! I was in-ah your boat buddy, heehee. You aren’t alone. I can-eh count the amount of games that are just mine on my-ah fingies.” Luigi proceeds to hold up six fingers, then seven, then five. “It’s-ah really seven, but one wasn’t-ah made by Nintendo, and one-eh isn’t out-ah yet.”

    “That’s nice to hear,” Geno says. “Good luck in Luigi’s Mansion 3.” Geno shakes Luigi’s hand. “We’ll catch up more later, I- I guess.”

    “Alrighty! I’m working on-ah the pizzas for tonight, so I’ll look forward to you-eh trying it!” Luigi smiles genuinely. Geno feels comforted.  
  
    Samus showed him the home theater, the pools, the library and study, the game room, the balcony, the training room, the garage, the dining hall, and so many other rooms that made his head spin. He was even shown the bar, where he was told his mother gave him permission to drink, as long as he wasn’t abusing his privileges. What a cool mom.

    Finally, he was shown his room, which seems to have been decorated by Rosalina herself. Bright blues and yellows adorned it, with a notable star motif throughout. Geno was in awe- there was an artist’s desk, an empty table and desk _made_ for his card collections, a fancy 360 degree coat rack in his closet, and his very own Nintendo Masterpiece, which was a SMASH house exclusive console and free library of all games with characters featured in the SMASH house, third parties included, alongside every Nintendo game ever made. Of course there was more, but Geno had to take it all in by himself. He hugged Samus.   
  
    “Thank you… thank you so much…” Geno lightly sobbed and gripped Samus tight, feeling relieved and overjoyed. Samus patted his back and motherly kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll leave you alone for now. Enjoy your new room.”   
  
    Samus shut the door and he couldn’t stop thinking about everything. Luigi’s right. Just because he’s only been in one game doesn’t make him invalid. If people care about him that much, he could even get his _own_ game. What would that be like? What role would he play? Time will tell. Geno gets unpacked and is still rendered overjoyed by the room around him. He could not be more ready for pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The start of a whole barrel of fun. Geno’s doing his best, the boy’s just getting used to things. (Let’s hope that won’t be his excuse for the whole story.)
> 
> Fun Fact: When SMASH House started, Luigi only established himself as head chef because he was good at it, and he only had to cook for twelve people. If it weren’t for peer pressure, he would have put off the chef’s hat over a decade ago.
> 
> Post your thoughts and reactions to the chapter in the comments!


	4. Guardian Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s the first morning in the SMASH House, and Geno’s finally getting to meeting more people. However, moms will be moms, as Rosalina and her friend have arranged a meeting among their sky subjects.

    It had been a few days and Geno had adjusted to the SMASH House much better than he expected. He had reunited with the Mario franchise characters that he used to work with, to varying degrees of expectedness. Mario was as happy go lucky, but as busy as ever. Geno could barely find an opening to talk to him, he was jumping back and forth from deal to paperwork to interacting with his previously known peers, but when he did it was rather brief. It took Mario a little time to remind himself who Geno was, but really it wasn’t his fault. Mario had hundreds of games in his name, some not even made by Nintendo, like Super Mario RPG, (in hindsight, that name was kind of dumb,) Mario Party (1 through Super,) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Five or more of those), Mario Super Strikers (One of many sports games,) even New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe (Okay, he’s seen longer titles. Poor Sora).

    Peach was similar, but her affection seemed less empty. Peach greeted Geno with a tight hug and a smooch on the forehead. Her girlfriend was there too, another princess named after a flower he only just now forgot the actual name of. Mom did have them over to the starship, he remembers- he could just never put a face to… was it Dandelion? Daisy? Oh, jeez. He’s going to have to retain all 70 or so names that live in the same building. No matter, though. The effort is worth living here.

    Bowser was way different than Mario or Peach in the way he expressed his happiness. Bowser gave Geno a fist bump, but he may have bumped a bit too hard, because his hand cracked clean in half on contact. Bowser apologized, but luckily Geno can repair his palm using some of his own magic. Otherwise, the interaction was pleasant. Bowser treated Geno like an old friend from high school, even though Geno or Bowser neither of them really aged all that much, though Bowser looks a lot more friendly than he used to be. Turns out, he’s a single father of eight. It’s paltry compared to his mom and his 772,229 star siblings of several varieties back at home, but unfortunately for Bowser, he can’t summon them to his presence at will. Geno doesn’t comment about his life back at home, but sympathizes for the big guy. He’s seen them around and they’re not a very innocent bunch, but he could get to know them. Being on good terms with Bowser’s kids has ought to help him out in the future.

    Geno sits in his room, focusing on repairing his palm in solitude. He sat on his bright blue bed wearing his starry pajama onesie and sleeping cap with cotton bobble, not unlike Saint Nick’s. He doesn’t really need pajamas, but he feels very warm wearing them, especially in these colder months. It isn’t even all that late either, Geno just didn’t feel like dealing with his robe today, and he didn’t plan on leaving his room today anytime soon. He just wanted to keep to himself, get used to his new artist’s desk, make some gesture drawings using his wooden mannequins (which wore a miniature version of his iconic hat!) and loving life more than usual.

    That is, until he heard a familiar, gentle knock on his door, using the first seven notes of the battle theme from his game. It’s mom. Oh boy.

    He quietly walks to his door and answers it, and is greeted by his mom, as anticipated, but also Auntie Palu, very obviously, as she hugged him as soon as he opened the door. Palutena wasn’t his aunt, but Rosa and Palutena interacted so often it was borderline true. They were both goddesses, and relatively new characters to the public eye, so they were practically friends already. Palutena releases grip of Geno and addresses the elephant in the room. Or, well, angel.

    “Come out, Pit, meet your new friend!”

    A plucky, tall angel stood behind Palutena, and is now encouraged to step up front. He’s wearing a golden laurel, a chiton, boots with exposed toes, and a nervous grin. He holds out his hand in awkward earnest.

    “My name’s Pit, I’m, er- Lady Palutena’s most loyal servant, and it’s nice to meet you!”

    Geno holds out his hand, shaking Pit’s at an equal level of awkwardness. Is this Palutena’s kid? Or are they unrelated? Geno hasn’t seen this boy in his life, yet he feels so familiar.

    Palutena smiles. “Glad to see you two become such good friends so fast!” Geno squinted in her direction. All they did was weakly shake hands.  
Rosa adds, “How nice! You two get along, why don’t you get to know one another? ♡♪!? Has the time, I’d imagine.”

     _Mom!_ Geno internally proclaims. He was a bit frustrated. She means well, but he just wanted to be alone today. He couldn’t say that, though- Pit seems like he cares, even if he appears to also be forced to do this “friendship” thing.

    Rosalina waves goodbye as her and Palutena start talking mom stuff with the door closed, as Pit stands in front of the now closed door, sheepishly looking left to right.

    “So you’re Rosalina’s son? You don’t look like one of them, usually the lumas are softer and fatter. You look more like Pinocchio to me!”

    Geno sighs. Time for the spiel again.

    After Geno explains what he is for the umpteenth time, Pit is wowed.

    “So, you’re like… an angel, that’s trapped inside a wooden body?”

    “No, I’m not trapped,” Geno corrects, “I’m in here by choice. A more humanoid, but versatile body was one I desired. One can’t quite do much normal things to the outside world as a star spirit, so I inhabited this very doll. It was a prop for my game, but I loved it so much my mother paid for it.”

    Pit beams. “A modified body? I saw you could shoot things out of your fingers, what else can you do?”

    Geno lulls over his hobbies. “I am an amateur, aspiring artist, I collect Pokémon trading cards, and I am an avid gamer. I also-“

    Pit shakes his head. “No, no, like, what things can you do with your cool body?”

    Pit doesn’t seem to enjoy nerd stuff, Geno thinks. Very well.

    He transforms into a cannon, and he shoots his own head out of the barrel. The cannons transforms back into his body before his head hits the floor.

    Pit claps, amazed. “How-how-how’d-ya-do-that?”

    “Mere transfiguration,” Geno says, proudly. “It’s not that hard.”

    “You’re cool, Gene! That’s your name, right?”

    Goddamnit, Samus, why are you calling me that? Now it’s getting out.

    “It’s Geno, actually. Or you can call me ♡♪!?. But that’s hard to pronounce.” Geno says, a bit tense.

    The two remain silent for a few minutes. Then, Pit breaks the silence.

    “Y’know, you aren’t alone with the whole ‘not being recognized’ thing.”

    Geno’s listening.

    Pit continues, “When I got here about ten years ago, I only had one game. Kid Icarus, for the NES. Nobody really knew or cared much about me, but I ended up making a few friends. It was quiet for a good while.”

    Hm. Where is this going?

    “However, I got a new game of my very own just a few years later, which caused a bunch of people to care more about me! SMASH helped me get my footing on games again!”

    Pit puts a hand on Geno’s shoulder.

    “I think the same will apply to you, Gene- er, Geno.”

    Geno darts his eyes back and forth, anxious, but also filled with an incessant pride. A game of my own, he thought. The thought made him feel nervous, but imagine the possibilities. He could have his own creative input, he could help make parts of the game, his friends could star! This could be a new chapter for him, a new start, the rise of a new icon of gaming, a mere-

    “You okay, man? You’re jittering.” Pit jostles Geno’s arm.

    Geno came to his senses. “Right, sorry. My head was filling with very pleasing outcomes. I shouldn’t get my hopes up too much.”

    Pit nodded. “Yeah, I haven’t been getting too much press nowadays. The biggest news for me recently is my original game being ported to the Switch’s online service.”

    “Right.” Geno said, awkwardly.

    As a result, there is an awkward silence. Geno breaks the ice with the big question.

    “So… friends?”

    Geno holds out his hand carefully, making sure it’s not splinter-prone.

    Pit smiles, gripping Geno’s hand firmly.

    “...Friends.”

    The two swiftly, but genuinely shake hands.

    “So, Geno, you said you played games? I play games! We can play some Mario Kart!”

    Mario Kart, ey? Pit doesn’t know who he’s talking to. He’s a master at Mario Kart. Nobody could beat him.

Pit: 1st Place  
YOSHI: 2nd Place  
FUNKY KONG: 3rd Place  
WALUIGI: 4th Place  
Geno: 5th Place  
WARIO: 6th Place  
…

    Geno stood corrected.

    This was going to be a long, trash talk filled night.

    But honestly? Geno couldn’t have been happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Geno’s a dork, Pit’s a dorkasaur. They’ll be good friends, if they may not agree once in a while.
> 
> Geno’s definitely the type to say he isn’t competitive but when he loses he injects twelve gallons of tryhard into his metaphorical veins.
> 
> Feel free to comment as usual!


	5. Squidkid Privilege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geno has mixed feelings on the new IP in town, and he’s not doing a good job suppressing them.

    Geno spent the night practicing drifting and looking up pro strategies for a Mario Kart. A casual game. He really shouldn’t care if Pit’s better than him in _Mario Kart_ , but Geno can’t stand not being the best. He had to be quiet though, considering quiet hours were from 2AM-6AM.

    Geno felt bad for the folks that needed sleep every day. Geno sleeped once per week, for about 5-6 hours. He couldn’t imagine doing that every day: he’d lose so much time drawing, reading, socializing online (timezones mean nothing to this lad) and, of course, playing games, with nobody to bother him. While being alone for several hours is fun, he does wish he had a friend to do it with, even if it seems counteractive.

    The next morning, breakfast rung in. He received a text on his phone from the House- all-you-can-eat pancakes, courtesy of King Dedede and his head chef Waddle Dees. Geno hadn’t heard of a king cooking for himself and others, so he was curious to see if they were any good.

    Geno started heading downstairs, eager to try pancakes for the first time, until he met his new friend on the way down.

    Geno smirked, “Hey, Pit, how’re you doing?”

    Pit nodded. “Not much, training wheels.” Geno lightly punches his chest in response. Pit giggles.

    “I spent all night practicing mini-turbos. You’re donezo next time,” Geno replied, cocky.

    “Sure, man. Anyway, I’d like to introduce you to another friend of mine.”

    Strutting up the stairs is a bright blue robot, choppily moving upstairs as if he were ripped straight from his NES classics. It was _the_ blue bomber himself, Megaman.

 _The_ Megaman?! Geno has always dreamed of having a shmup like his, and meeting him for the first time, proper, meant a lot. He already knew Mario on a first name basis (everyone knows him on a first name basis, stupid) or, well, he knew him. yeah. But this felt different. He avidly played his games, and-

    Geno shakes out of it when he notices Megaman holding out his hand, for a greeting handshake. Geno returns it, resulting in a long monologue from the gunner.

    “Hello, I am MEGAMAN, or ROCKMAN in other regions. I am a legacy shoot-them-up gaming mascot that has lasted and thrived for multiple decades, and I am highly pleased to meet you.”

    Megaman stops his autonomy. “Sorry about that, I like to use my lever-operating greeting system to keep things more automatic for me. Hi, I’m Megaman. But you can call me Rocky.”

    Wow, he’s friendly. He expected a bit more busybody from someone with such a legacy on their belt. Geno nodded. After he introduced himself more personally yet again, Megaman’s eyes lit up… literally.

    “We’re not too dissimilar, you and I. I’ll enjoy having flapjacks with you.” Megaman retains a sense of emotion, but the robotic tone is still there.

    “Flapjacks?” Geno said, confused. “I thought we were having-“

    “Flapjack. Noun. Synonym for ‘Pancakes’. See ‘Pancakes’ for full definition,” Megaman recited. “Er, sorry, habit.”

    The trio hastily walks downstairs, following the buttermilk aroma. They bump into Yoshi, who thoughtfully gives Pit a boost downstairs, considering he was up pretty late playing Mario Kart. Geno didn’t notice the bags under Pit’s eyes- do those happen on organisms that are sleep-deprived? Fascinating.

    At the foot of the stairs, they take a sharp right after reaching a crossroads to head to the main dining hall. “All-You-Can-Eat” sure was an understatement- there were platters and platters of stacks and stacks of soft, sweet goodness, coupled with a variety of syrup bottles. Dedede greets Pit with a hearty hug.

    “Howdy, Pit, Rocky! Knew you’d come down heah. A’ve busted my feathery ass workin’ on them there flapjacks!” Dedede chuckles playfully. “Ah hope ya enjoy’um.” Dedede quickly notices Geno next to the two. “Hey, who’s dis ‘ere puppet fella?”

    Pit responds, “Hi, King! This is Geno, you saw him a few days ago, right? Geno, meet Dedede, king of Dreamland.”

    “Nice’ta meet’cha!” Dedede pulls geno into an arm-ricketing handshake, causing Geno’s arm to spin around on its own for a few revolutions before settling.

    “Nice to… meet you too, I suppose.” Geno says, overstimulated. He, Pit, and Rocky sit at a noticeably tall stack, and Geno helps himself to the top of the stack by stretching out his wrist long enough. He tries a morsel by turning one of his fingers into a fork, and another into a knife. “This is delicious!” he says, quickly treating himself to more and more pancake.

    Megaman, meanwhile, has extended the barrel on his left arm to fit the circumference of the pancake stack, and he slices it instantaneously into a pizza-like orientation, eight equal sections of the pancake. He then pours a good amount of maple syrup in the cracks of the slices. Geno watches curiously.

    “You really have it all, don’t you?” Geno commented.

    “Yes,” Megaman replied, “I’ve got a lot of functions over the years. All of the ones from my games, but also some utilities unfit for gameplay, such as this pizza slicer.” He puts his buster up and lets it slice nothing in the air, showing how it looks.

    “You sure as heck could use that for combat. Looks like you could make a pizza out of someone’s circulatory system!” Pit adds. _What’s a circulatory system?_ Geno ponders. _Probably some organic dealio._

    Geno lets Pit and Rocky talk amongst themselves as he surveys the table. At the far end, a young princess with strikingly blonde hair and a brunette with a satchel and a white hat were chatting and gossiping while minding their portions. On the other end, a strikingly large purple dragon creature (Geno had to double-take) and a morbidly obese crocodile were seeing how many pancakes they could fit in their mouths at once. Finally, settling across from the trio and to their left, is a pair of very shiny humans with strange hair gobbling up pancakes in mouthfuls, smothering their stacks in chocolate sauce and marshmallow fluff. Geno is curious.

    “Who are those two?” Geno asks Pit.

    “Those are the Inklings,” he replies, “They came here about a year ago. I don’t remember their names, but they’re part of the super big _Splatoon_ series.”

    “Splatoon?” Geno asks.

    Megaman interjects. “It’s a new series. Nintendo’s first shooter. Nintendo found this highly interesting universe where squids evolved into their own intelligent species, and participate in sport and other standard activities. They decided to make a game based on their everyday lives.”

    “And it was a massive success?” Geno asks, mildly miffed.

    “Yes, it was a massive hit. Immediately met with praise, and received an even more successful sequel on the Switch. They debuted on the _Wii U._ How they managed to reach success confounds me to this day,” Megaman shrugs.

_Lucky…_ Geno seethed internally.

    Geno had waited years for his success. He was given an allowance from his mother, but other than that, he was pretty broke. Nobody bothered hiring him, so he sat alone in his apartment for decades until, by divine circumstance, he somehow got his way in. These two probably don’t even _know_ what struggle is. They were given silver spoons with silver pacifiers to match- as soon as they were discovered, they were on their way to greatness immediately. Geno did a single game before dying off in mainstream media relevance a few years later, these two are going strong by merely existing, and in the age of the internet they will remain a phenomenon for several years.

    “Are they _pleasant_?” Geno asks, visibly distressed.

    Megaman responds. “Yes, their culture is fascinating. They have entire, full-scale citywide events over menial arguments, use their own ink to mimic one of their most important events in Inkling history, a turf war, and most of them participate in the same illegal occupation involving smuggling golden eggs from enemy borders, and nobody cares.”

    “They sound… er, how are _they_ like?” Geno grumbles.

    Pit smiles, “They’re super nice! They’re still loving everything new they see, and the two of them are _super_ close.”

    Geno can’t find a reason to express his anger without ruining the mood, so he just doesn’t speak for the rest of breakfast. After attempting to finish his stack, he took his leave.

    “I’m going to go to my room and… just be alone for a little while.”

    Pit responds, concerned. “You okay, man?”

    “Yeah, I’m fine.” Geno was not fine.

    “Well, just, let me know when you want to come out! We wanted to show you something cool!” Pit says, enthusiastically.

    Geno silently goes to his room, head filled with fury. Spoiled _rotten-_ he had to _try_ . They were just _handed_ SMASHhood like it were a free sample. He slid his card into the door, slammed it, and tackled his bed, pushing his face right into his pillows.

    He couldn’t understand this influx of anger. He did _not_ like them, but the amount of hatred he felt for them felt excessive. God, social interactions were hard. He gripped his sheets. Geno felt bad that they felt bad to him. _How the hell can I express this?!_

    Geno was about to throw something until there was a knock at the door. Geno wasn’t having any of this.

    “ **_Occup_ ** -“

    Until an unfamiliar, feminine, and almost wavy voice interrupted.

    “Sir? may we come in?”

    Geno opens the door to see… the spoiled kids. Captain Hershey’s and her Lieutenant Marshmallow.

    “ _What?_ ”

    “&@%$&$! Hi!! It’s nice to meet you!” the orange one said, the first bit in a garbly language he couldn’t understand.

    Geno reluctantly obliged. They walked into his room, getting an eyeful of his interests. He stood in front of his card collection so they wouldn’t get grabby. He eyed them carefully. “What... did you want?” Geno asked, unsubtly disgruntled.

    The orange one continued. “We just wanted to say hi to the newest member of SMASH! I’m Val. This is Max, my best friend.”

    The blue one responds in a deeper, but similar voice. “I’m Max. this is Val, my best friend.”

    “Oh, shut up!” she responds, playfully, lightly slapping his cheeks.

    Max asks, “What’s your name?”

    Geno wanted to be rude, but he couldn’t put himself up to it. “I am Geno. You’ve seen me around the past few days, correct?”

    Val replied, “Yeah! We just forgot your name, that’s all. We think it’s shella fresh that you’re an old character coming back for more!”

_Huh?!_

    Max added, “Yeah, you’re like Rocky but more steampunky.”

_Buhscuse me?_

    “Anyway,” Val says, “We hope we can talk more in the future!!”

    “See you soon!” Max says.

    They close the door, leaving Geno confused and conflicted.

    They seem… thankful. But they definitely feel weird. Maybe it’s his own paranoia. He doesn’t know.

    ...He should catch up to his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of the chapter dump, because I pre-wrote all of these throughout the past month. I’ll try to update this as much as possible, though!
> 
> I think I’ll have the inklings hard to adjust for Geno, they won’t be easy to befriend, mostly because of Geno’s stubbornness. Let’s see what Rocky and Pit have to show Geno next time.
> 
> Comment and react as per usual!


	6. Thank Cod For Saunas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geno meets with some familiar faces after a quick excursion to the community sauna.

     Geno, now left alone by the squidkids, just now notices his newly issued SMASH House phone. He’ll have to work on the data transfer, but he decides to check out his phone in its blankest slate.  
  
     Geno’s old phone was one of the older model smartphones that came out about a decade ago. While that didn’t feel like a long time for him, phones had been getting really advanced really quickly, and Geno didn’t really care to catch up. However, this new one really showed him what he was missing out on. It looked like custom hardware, nothing name-brand, unlimited data taken directly from Nintendo’s pocket, and it had 2TB of storage on it. This was top-of-the-line tech, made specifically for him, and hell if he wasn’t enjoying it. He even had a unique phone number, and everyone in the SMASH house set as a contact, with the same “area code”. He also had his own page on Pitch, the Smashville social network, prepped and ready to unlock. Geno wasn’t sure if he was ready to have a big fanbase, even though he always knew they existed. He just hoped they weren’t irritating or unbearable to deal with. 

     Geno decides to just transfer the data from his old phone to the new phone now and get to work in his sketchbook, now that he has a bit of fully excused time alone. Sketching to Geno was like stepping into a gateway of solitude and immersing himself into his own little world. Sometimes he liked sketching people he’s seen, himself, and some of his own original characters, most of which resembling himself. Geno wasn’t self inserting by any means, but the puppet he inhabited was so interesting to him he decides to expand upon it, creating characters looking like it. He knew the puppet was a prop, something made for Super Mario RPG and nothing more, but it felt right to be in the body. Just mechanical, organic, and humanoid that it looked interesting but the right amount of pros and cons to make it imperfect. It could sound strange for Geno to call his own body a muse, but he just did. Only privately, however. Saying that in public could get him some strange looks. Probably.

     Geno got out of his zone after he noticed his new phone finished downloading his old data. He stored his old phone into his drawers and held onto his new one, shooting a text to Rocky to let him know he’s ready to see what’s going on.

 

=

> **Geno** : hey, what did you want to show me?
> 
> **R0KY** : Dude, it’s been 3 hours, if we were still in the sauna I’d have blown up about 2 hours in.

=

 

     Geno checked the clock. Damn, his sense of time really is that different. He felt gross abandoning them, but they… well, yeah it was his fault. Oops.

 

=

> **Geno:** heck, sorry man, i’ll try to avoid rain checking you guys next time. i got too wrapped up in checking out the new phone i got
> 
> **R0KY** : Ehhh, I wouldn’t understand on my end, but I can see a bit from your perspective.
> 
> **Geno** : you said… sauna?  
>   
>  **R0KY** : Yeah, we were gonna show you the sauna. Downstairs, enter the east hall and it’s the door on your left.
> 
> **Geno** : What even is a sauna?
> 
> **R0KY:** Sau·na, /ˈsônə,ˈsounə/, noun. A small room used as a hot-air or steam bath for cleaning and refreshing the body.
> 
> **R0KY:** I was going to respond myself, but autopilot went off and I was like, “fuck it”.
> 
> **Geno:** waaait we can swear
> 
> **R0KY** : Hold your equines, mister. Before you go wild, pretty much anything’s allowed that isn’t derogatory towards any specific groups of people.
> 
> **Geno** : damn  
>  **Geno:** crap
> 
> **R0KY:** I can see you’ve still got a pair to grow before you start swearing like a man.
> 
> **Geno:** but arent you like twelve
> 
> **R0KY:** Rockman? Megaman? It’s in the name, lmao.
> 
> **Geno:** ok, ill talk to you later loser
> 
> **R0KY:** OK pussy.

=

 

     Geno put his phone away and decided to check out the sauna downstairs. Geno knew Rocky was joking, but people insulting him kinda scratched at him. Maybe he’ll adjust, but for now, it’s time to see what this “sauna” really is.  
  
     Arriving on the door, it was metallic and featured a green indicator on the outside, with a bit of red peeking from the other end. Geno figured this was an occupied/empty indicator, so he opened the door, and, well, it wasn’t empty.

     Not only was Bowser, king of the koopas himself, sitting at the edge of the sauna with his son sitting closeby, the squidkids accompanied them, wearing swimsuits, sitting to his left. Geno’s stress riled up a good bit.

     Bowser roars with delight, “Hey, Geno! What brings you ‘ere to the sauna? My son and I were doin’ some skirmishes with the Inklings in the trainin’ room.”

     His son adds, “Yeah, Papa and I beat up those squids so bad we’re tuckered out, and need a good sweat-off!”

     “Now, son,” Bowser says, in a parental tone, “What did we say about lying?”

     The inklings giggled in response. “Cmon, Geno, have a seat, get comfy! We won’t bite,” Max says as he bares his three sharp fangs. As such, Geno reluctantly sits down, and takes off his robe and putting it on a coat rack, leaving him “nude”. But, unlike some organic creatures, there wasn’t anything really of note under his garments.

     “So, eh, Geno, you ever been in a sauna before?” Bowser said, a little awkwardly. “From what I can tell, it’s like a consensual oven,” Geno said, blankly. “Are you four trying to cook yourselves? That’s awfully strange of you.” Bowser responds with a chuckly shake of the head. “Nah, this room ain’t hot enough to roast a living body. It’s a room meant to keep ‘ya warm, and energized. It’s also a great place to sweat off after sparrin’ with someone ‘round here.”

     “Yeah!” Val says, “You heard earlier we were sparring with the Bowz and his son? Well, we won, and now we’re just sorta talkin’ it over, having a laugh or two.”

     Geno curiously asks Bowser, “Have you known these two for a while?”

     Bowser nods in response. “Yeah, these two are part of my D&D sessions on Thursday nights. I’m the dungeon master, while Max, Val, Ridley, Zelda, Ken, and Alph are all my regulars. They’re a real fun time, and a fun combo of people to see team up every week.”

     “...Alph? Who’s that?” Geno asks, mildly confused.

     “Oh, Alph!” Junior says. “He’s some nerd who-”

     “-he’s a  _ friend _ who isn’t recognized for being here very often,” Bowser interrupts. “He’s an alt costume for Olimar in the game, but he lives here just as prominently as everyone else.” 

     Come to think of it, Geno had seen a “blue Olimar” walking around… this was Green Mario all over again. Goddamnit, now he felt bad for thinking that. 

     Bowser continues, “I feel like it would mean a lot to him if you went up to him and spoke to ‘im. He’s a good kid, and he likes robots and automatons and stuff, you’re mechanical and stuff, right?”

     Geno let his pinky hinge droop, and a pole wrapped in cloth came out of his pinky finger hole. Then, the cloth unfurled. A large flag with the word “ **YEAH** ” on it was made visible. “That’s the short version, anyway,” Geno said. “The long version is that my body is a mix of clockwork mechanisms, modern devices, and my own star magic. Mom said I am ‘the best of both worlds’ but I don’t quite understand what that has to do with anything.”

     The others nod in understanding.

     “I wish I had a momma…” Junior wished out loud. Immediately, bowser turned beet red and looked the other way, looking like there’s a lot to the word “momma” to Bowser that is absolutely not coming out right now. To break the topic, Geno comments on the humorous face. “Bowser, you’re as red as a tomato, is the heat getting to ya?”

     Val scrunches her eyebrows. “‘To-MAH-to?’ It’s pronounced, ‘to-may-to’.” Geno shrugged. “My dialect’s different than yours, silly. In some regions, the common language, English, is spoken in different tones and accents. I learned common from my mother, so it kind of shows. This exact dialect is the British accent.”

     “What the heck is a British?” Max says, confuzzled.

     “Ah, it’s a region on Earth,” Geno answers. “Earth is the planet where our most valuable consumers come from. They’re the reason we make 90% of our income. Early on, we adapted to learning English and Japanese to communicate to Earth, and sold games there. Earthlings are very puzzling, and control our market, more or less.”

     Bowser reaffirms, “He’s right, you know. Did a better job at explainin’ it than I ever could.”

     “So  _ that’s _ why we had to learn 2 different languages before getting into SMASH.” Val says, enlightened. “When Splatoon came out, we were informed by our old interpreters that we didn’t have to learn any language, and the game directors wanted to keep our culture ripe. But now that we’re in SMASH, communicating with English and Japanese is pretty much a necessity, considering we’ll be so busy.” Max adds, “We’re the face of our whole planet, which really stresses me the heck out!!” 

     Huh. The Inklings weren’t quite as “spoiled’ as he thought. They had struggles, too, but they just held on to success longer. Luck of the draw. Hell,  _ he’s _ lucky he even got in to SMASH, considering his gigantic resume of basically  _ one game, _ two if you stretched.

     “Welp, I’m gonna hit the hay.” Bowser gets up and stretches, his son following. “Nice catching up with you three, and I’ll see you two Thursday,” he points at Val and Max, smirking. “I’ve got some plans for this week’s sesh.” The inklings look understandably excited.

     As Bowser and his son leave, the remaining three are left to sit and stare at one another, awkwardly. Geno can feel the tension freeze up in the air, though his body remains oddly moist and warm. He looks around the room, never really taking it in, considering his eyes were previously fixated on the koopa in the room before he left. The room matched the aesthetic of the rest of the house, but it was made of darker wood, a few shades darker than his own wood. The SMASH cross was engraved everywhere, and Geno thought of getting an engravement of the logo for a split second before the thought of his mother possibly finding out came to mind, and he immediately stopped considering it afterwards. The room was filled with white steam, the only other things in the room besides himself were the two squidkids, their naturally masked eyes giving out a glow of curiosity and youth. 

     Val shatters the ice with an apology. “Sorry if we were awkward yesterday… we just hate making people uncomfortable, and, uh… we just want to connect with the newbie.” She has a sheepish look, eyebrows worried and a toothy smile accompanying them. “Yeah,” Max adds, “And you’re not a lame adult or a potted plant, you’re a kid, like us!” Max shrugs. “Kinda…? Are you a kid…?”

     Geno ponders. “I mean, I’m nearing my 4,366th birthday, but… I have siblings tens of thousands of years older than me, so yes, I suppose I’m a child by comparison.”

     “Eh, that works for us.” Max says, bluntly.

     Val pats Geno on the back. “Pals?”

     Geno thought for a moment, and he returned the gesture. “Sure.”

     The three eventually parted ways after this exchange. It was getting pretty late. Geno slipped his coat back on, and he was 5 hours ahead of schedule before quiet hours, so Geno had more than enough time to do whatever he pleased. But, he decided he didn’t really want to sketch or try texting anyone, though he did want to explore his phone a little more. 

     Instead, Geno decided to try out this “Splatoon” game on his Nintendo Masterpiece console. It only made sense after his pleasant interaction with the Inklings after yesterday’s hot mess, and he had to admit, the aesthetic of the game was excellent. It had a punk, electronic aesthetic that really inspired his artistic side. The gameplay and lore undertones were excellent, too. Games for all ages back in his day couldn’t really have a plot this massive and arching. He beat the singleplayer campaign in a single night, and played a few multiplayer matches, and he was honestly pretty impressed with how fun it was. He almost violated quiet hours swearing under his breath after getting splatted once or twice, however. All in all, Geno was glad to have some friends. Even if he’s having a hard time adjusting to having any.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance for this chapter being so late. I wasn't sure what direction to go with after the four I bombed when I posted it, so it got me all anxious thinking about what i could actually do next that would impress people.
> 
> Of course Geno would like the Inklings later on, the dang boy has a bit too much angst to cope with people liking him. And Bowser's got a bit more under his... shell(?) than he lets on.
> 
> Let's hope it doesn't take another ten days to write the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> This story is based directly off my RP server, which can be found here: ( https://discord.gg/pXX8AyG )
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy the ride!


End file.
